To increase the speed of cooking in high-production environments or where customer service time is crucial, food can be griddled from both sides simultaneously by placing a heated surface in contact with the top. Not only does this process decrease cooking time by a factor of two or more, it also improves quality.
A typical gas-fired double-sided griddle according to the present invention provides outstanding temperature uniformity, fast response, and high efficiency, including low idle energy consumption.
A circulating hot oil system as shown in FIG. 8 transfers heat to the cooking surfaces from a gas-fired oil heater as shown in FIG. 9, located below the griddle. A simple, effective, and robust system shown in FIGS. 2-7 positions the upper platens to maintain intimate contact with the food without excessively compressing soft foods.
Heating on a hot flat surface has been one of the mainstays of food preparation for thousands of years, as evidenced by scorched rocks found in archeological digs. The process, now called griddling, cooks rapidly by effectively conducting heat from the griddle to the food. Griddling also provides a rapidly seared food surface that seals in juices. Most foods are cooked from both sides sequentially; they are flipped about half way through the cooking process. Although a variety of foods are prepared on griddles, hamburgers are the dominant product. Hamburgers are particularly adapted to preparation in this way since the natural oils melted out of the meat form an effective heat transfer medium between the meat and the griddle. Texturing or puncturing the hamburger surface increases cooking speed by providing a convective path for hot grease to reach the center of the patty.
To increase the speed of cooking in high-production environments or where customer service time is crucial, food can be griddled from both sides simultaneously by placing a heated surface in contact with the top. Not only does this process decrease cooking time by a factor of two or more, it also improves quality. Because both sides are seared simultaneously, more natural juices are retained. The operator-dependent flipping operation is eliminated, thus improving product consistency.
Electrically heated top platens have been used by two major food chains for several years. These devices were commercially successful but deficient in performance because of the high operating cost of resistance electric heating, the high installation cost to rewire for the high power draw, and overheating of those portions of the griddle not in contact with food.